In 2020 when the creators of the CRISPR gene-editing technique were awarded the Nobel Prize many worried that we were meddling where we ought not to. 

But is it naive to think that humans are only now shaping nature?

From domesticating animals to using bacteria to produce insulin, humans have been altering nature to thrive and survive for centuries. 

And while genetically modified organisms could spell the end of modern disease, it could just as easily cough up an unintended consequence we haven’t prepared for.

Beth Shapiro, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California, Satya Cruz & author of ‘Life As We Made It’ joined Jonathan to discuss.

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